1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus and a navigation method that displays character strings corresponding to the names of buildings, tenants, or the like which are included in a map image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a navigation apparatus that improved the difficulty of viewing an image of an overlapped display by preferentially displaying character data of higher priority in the case where character data displayed on a map image overlap one another (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-301542 publication (pages 5 to 8, FIGS. 1 to 11), for example).
Although the navigation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-301542 describes several ways of determining priority and character data is displayed according to any priority, there was a problem that the apparatus could not necessarily display characters reflecting an operation result of a user. For example, a case is considered that the user performs a facility search for a destination of route search or the like, searches for a facility fulfilling a predetermined condition, and displays a map image around the facility. Even when the facility is a tenant on the first floor of a building, only the name of the building, the address of the building location, or the like has been displayed conventionally, and the facility name has rarely been displayed. Since there are cases where a plurality of tenants occupies the same building, it is not possible to preferentially display any tenant name even if the user desires. Further, in the case where a travel route using the searched facility as a destination is set through a route search, facility names, street addresses or the like become easy to find as a landmark on the travel route if only character data around the route can be preferentially displayed. However, such display cannot be performed only by setting the priority of character data.